The performing magician's guide to creating original magic.
You are gaining traction as a magician. You have studied the art form, practiced everything that has been taught to you, and performed these miracles for audiences. Now you want to create your own magic. But how? Creativity is notoriously elusive—especially when what you are trying to create is, by definition, impossible. This book dives into the importance of originality in magic—defining what it means for magic to be "original"—and gives you concrete, practical advice for how to create your own, original magical effects. Inside, you will find powerful examples of creativity, effective exercises for generating novel and meaningful ideas, and six original effects developed by the author.
"I am often asked where I get my ideas from, and I always reply that creativity can be learned. Which brings me to Theron Christensen's book Plotting Astonishment. In this book, Theron delivers an excellent roadmap to creativity. He has done all the heavy lifting for you and leads you towards creating your own original magic with clear and concise insights, exercises, key concepts, and real world examples. I have been creating magic for fifty years and wish I had this book when I first started. It would have saved me a whole lot of time. It puts into words what I learned the hard way." - Martin Lewis
"Theron Christensen has done the impossible! He has tackled the seemingly amorphous subject of creativity and wrangled it into a clear, concise book that will help all magicians make better magic. In Plotting Astonishment, he not only tells you why it's important to create original magic, he also explains how to do it. He provides thought-provoking exercises with well-defined goals, presented in such a direct manner you will be amazed at how quickly you can produce impressive results. If you consider yourself a creative magician, this book is required reading to remind yourself of your core strengths, clarify your artistic intentions, and introduce yourself to a well-structured methodology. If you don't consider yourself to be creative . . . this book is required reading!" - Dan Harlan
"Plotting Astonishment is a book about the author's creative process. I've long believed that you can't teach creativity in magic. And while I still believe that, I see real value in studying how particular performers approach their own work creatively. In these terms, Theron's work is terrific. He first explores the theoretical aspects to the ways he approaches magic. And in the second half of the book we're treated to some fine 'apparatus magic,' which I hope to someday see live onstage. I enjoyed Plotting Astonishment and I think you will too." - Joshua Jay
Table of Contents
- FOREWORD by David Goodsell
- INTRODUCTION: The Effect
- PART I: What is Magic?
- PART II: Novelty in Magic
- Novel Magic is Rewarding
- Novel Magic is Surprising
- Novel Magic is Ethical
- PART III: The Inspiration Problem
- Meaning in Magic
- Keep a Journal of Original Magic Effects
- Exercise 1: Building on Forgotten Effects
- Exercise 2: Effects from the Outside
- Exercise 3: Effects to Satisfy Your Audience
- Exercise 4: Building on Your Other Interests
- Exercise 5: Effects with Interesting Objects
- The Power of Collaboration
- PART IV: Developing a Method
- PART V: My Work
- Jack-o-Lantern Jumble
- Shoebox Surprise
- Magic Stamps
- Prediction Production
- Corduroy’s Button
- Illumination
- CONCLUSION
- Acknowledgements
- Bibliography
1st edition 2020, PDF 137 pages.
word count: 31815 which is equivalent to 127 standard pages of text
